Edward richmo



@latten taies arrutitiite,

EDVARD RCEMND, OF ,BRO0KLYN, NEW YORK-- Letters Patent No. 64,365, dated April 30, 1867.

IMPROVED WHIP-RACK TO WHOM IT MAY CONGERN:

Be it known that I, EDWARD RICHMOND, of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Racks for Holding Whips; and Ihereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description or" the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which represent a perspective view of a whipuacli with my improvements applied.

My invention has relation to the whip-rack for which Letters Patent of the United States were issued to me on the 2d October, 1866.

That whip-rack is composed of two perforated plates of wooden or other suitable material, between which is interposed a sheet of Ivulcanized rubber, the whole being so formed and arranged that a whip, when placed in the openings in the wooden plates, may be held by the rubber' and suspended either by the tip or the butt. In order to suspend whips b'y the tip-I ferm wedgeshaped openings in the top of the rack, in which the tips are placed and forced back untilthey become tightly wedged in the narrow part of the V-shapcd openings. In order, however, to thus secure the whip the operator. while forcing back or wedging the tip in the rack, must hold the whip near its lash or upper end, as, otherwise, the limberness ofthe whip would prevent him from accomplishing his purpose. This, of course, makes it necessaryv that the rack should not be out of reach of the hand of the operator, and thus the heightat which the rack is placedabove the iioor must continually be raised to suit the size of the person who makes use of it, and it also renders it impossible to suspend a whip of ten or twelve feet in length without placing the rack au inconvenient distance above the iioor. The object of my present invention is to overcome this diioulty, so as to enable any one vto secure the whip-lash in a rack placed at a considerable distance above ground, and beyond the reach of a man of ordinary size, without rendering it necessary for the operator to take hold of the whip at any other part than its handleor butt. In order to do this I use, in connection with each wedge-shaped opening, a wire or bar,.or equivalent device, which is inserted in the top of the rack, and some distance back from the edge of the same, on one side of th'e opening, and is bent so as Yto be parallel, or nearly so, to the face of the rack and across the opening. In other words, a hook or catch is formed, one end of the wire of which it is made being secured in the rack, the other end being free, and arranged so as to leave an opening between it and the face of the rack. `When it is desired to secure the lash in an opening or Vshaped slot, provided with one of these guiding and directing devices, the operator holds the whip by the handle and slips the upper end between the Wire and the face of the rack. As soon as this is done he draws the whip downwards, at the same time bringing it in a position perpendicular, or nearly so, to the rack. The tip of the-whip, which is caught under the wire, is thus prevented from flying up, and it is bent over the edge of the rack, being forced into the wedge-shaped opening by means of the wire, which holds one end of the whip and the operator who holds the other. Upon continuing the downward pull upon the whip the lash will finally be drawn out from under the wire, but not until it has become securely wedged in the opening in the edge of the rack.

To enable those skilled in the art to understand and use my invention, I will now proceed to describe in detail the manner in which the same is or may be carried into effect by reference to the accompanying drawings.

The rack is formed of two plates of wood, or other suitable material, with an interposed sheet of rubber, and in the plates and rubber sheet circular pcrforations a and wedge-shaped openings 6 are made, as described in the above-mentioned Letters Patent recently granted me. The circular holes are intended for suspending the whips by their butts, the V shaped openings for suspending them by their tips. It is, of course, perfectly easyfor any one standing below or underneath the rack to push the whip-handle or butt up through one of the circular' holes a so that it shall be held firmly bythe rubber; but, on account of the limberness ef the whip at its upper end,l it would be all but impossible to wedge or force back the lash into one of the wedge-shaped slots 6 without first taking the lash in the hand and then reaching up so as to put it in the slot; and this, as above shown, it is often very inconvenient and troublesome to do. To obviate this diiiculty I place in the top of the rack, and over each one of the openings' b, a guiding and holding device, e, of metal or other suitable material, by means of which the person using the rack can wedge or force the lash into the slot without taking hold of any part of the whip except the handle, or that part of the whip which it is most convenient for him to lay hold of. As shown in the drawings, this device consists of a piece of wire, one end of'vfhich is inserted and secured in the top of thc rack, and ein one side of opening b, to which it is applied. 'The wire is bent so as to extend across the opening b, or, in other words, so as to traverse the breadth of the opening, being parallel, or nearly S0, with the face ofthe racli. 'Ihis portion of the wire is far enough removed from the face of the rack to admit of the whip-lash passing between them, and is set back some distance from the edge of the rack, so that, when the lash is slipped or inserted under it, and the whip is then drawn downwards, the top of the whip shall be bent over the edge of the rack and forced into the wedge-shaped slot la, as hereinafter explained. The device then consists of two parts, the shank or stem c, which is inserted and held in thc top of the rack, and the guiding anddirecting piece c, which holds the top of the whip down, and,'when the whip is pulled downwards, causes it to enter the slot b in the edge ofthe rack.

The method of operation is as follows: -Iiet it he supposed that the rack is placed some nine or ten feet above the ground. In order to suspend the whip by its tip theoperator takes the whip by its handle or lower end and then slips or inserts the tip between` the guide c and the top of the rack. The whip, in this position, is represented in red lines in the drawing. As soon as this has been accomplished that part of the whip-stock between the handle and the V-shaped opening` is moved so as to be perpendicular, or nearly so, to the rack. The top of the whip, being held under the rod c, is, however, liept from following this movement, and is then bent over the edge of the rack and brought in close contact with the V-shaped slot over which the wire c is placed. New, when they whip is pulled downwards the tip is prevented lfrom springing up and away from the slot by means of the wire c, and is drawn over the edge of the rack, just at the peint where the opening I; is

found, entering the same gradually, until, by the time the whip is wholly withdrawn from under the wire-holder c, the tip will have become so tightly 'wedged in the back part of the opening Z) as to be able to sustain the whole weight of the whip. In this manner the tip or lash of a whip may be guided and secured in one of the openings even though the rack be raised so as to be a considerable distance above ground. It will be understood that the device need not necessarily-be made of wire, as represented in the figure, for it may just as well be a strip of wood, or a rod, or bar, or plate of metal of any form, provided its arrangement relatively to the opening b he the same as is seen in the drawings, that is to say, arranged so as to be transverse to the length of the slot, and far enough above the face of the rack to allow the whip-lash to pass between them. To more certainly direct the lash into the slot, and to prevent the whip from slipping out from under' the guide c, I make a corrugation or bend in said guide, at a point immediately above the slot so that the lash, when being drawn downwards, will lit in this bend or recess, which will eifectually check any tendency' on its part to become displaced. The wire guide c, in order to be adjusted to suit the various sizes of whips, is pivotedto the top of the rack. For whips that have thin ends or tips the wire is turned as indicated at c2, so as to narrow the slot. When tips of greater thickness are to be inserted the width of the slot may be increased by turning the wire so that its free end shall be nearer the end of the rack. The guide and holder c may also he set back entirely in rear of the slot, but so that it shall be transverse, as before, to the length of the slot.

Having described my invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be carried into e`ect, what I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The combination, with a wedge-shaped opening formed in a rack, as described, of a hook or guide of metal or other suitable material secured in the said rack, under such an arrangement that theportion of the said hook which guides and maintains the whip-lash or tip in its proper relations to the opening shall be parallel, or nearly so, with the face of the rack and trans-verse to the length of the opening over which it is placed, substantially as shown and set forth.

2. The combination, with a wedge or V-shaped slot, formed on the edge of whip-rack, of an adjustable guide or hook, corrugated or bent at the point where it traverses the slot above which it is placed, and pivoted to the top of the rack so that it may be moved to increase or lessen the width of the 'said slot, substantially as and for the purpose shown and described.

In testimony whereofI have signed my name to this specification before two subscribing witnesses.

EDWARD RICHMOND.

Witnesses:

Guns. E. Becam', W. H. SANFORD. 

